Steve Martin Posts Photo of Martin Short's Ripped Up Acceptance Speech After They Lose at 2026 Emmys: Photo

Steve Martin made sure his longtime comedy partner Martin Short's Emmy disappointment didn't go to waste, sharing a photo of Short's torn-up acceptance speech after the pair's Only Murders in the Building came up short at the 2026 ceremony.

Short, nominated for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series, lost to Matthew Rhys, star of Widow's Bay, and cameras caught him theatrically ripping his prepared remarks to pieces as Rhys took the stage.

Martin, 81, then posted a snapshot of the wreckage to his Instagram account during the broadcast.

As Rhys was announced the winner at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles on September 14, the broadcast cut to Short, 76, feigning outrage and shredding his speech before tossing it to the floor.

The moment quickly went viral, with viewers online joking that his reaction was funnier than anything else on the telecast and deserved an award of its own.

The gag was pure Short, who's built a career over the years on perfect comic timing. Rather than sit stone-faced through losing at the Emmys, he made it a funny moment that could have fit in the very show he was nominated for.

Martin completed the joke by documenting the aftermath. He photographed the ripped fragment of Short's notes and posted it online, giving fans a peek at the acceptance speech that never was.

Because the paper was torn vertically, the surviving scrap showed only partial lines, but a few affectionate phrases were legible.

The fragment included a shout-out to Martin, reading "Oh yes Steve Martin," along with the lines, "To my brilliant," "good as winning," and "Boy is it fun," suggesting Short had prepared a warm tribute to his collaborators had he won.

Despite repeated nominations for Only Murders in the Building, he has never won an Emmy for acting, and the show itself has converted only a handful of its many nominations into wins across its run, with its lone on-screen trophy going to a guest performer in the first season.

Short is not entirely without Emmy-adjacent awards, though. He won an award for a variety special in 2014 and a writing award decades earlier, but the acting prize has continued to elude him.

His castmate Rhys, by contrast, made history on the night, becoming the first performer to win lead-acting Emmys across comedy, drama and limited series categories.

Strong chemistry has made Martin and Short one of comedy's most enduring partnerships. The two have starred together on Only Murders in the Building since 2021, alongside Selena Gomez, and have toured and hosted awards shows as a team.

Martin's decision to broadcast his friend's mock defeat was in keeping with their dynamic, a running comedy of good-natured ribbing.

Only Murders in the Building returns for its sixth season, with a premiere scheduled for December.